How to Make a Birthday Cone Hat
Make the birthday child feel special with a decorated cone hat to wear on his day. Let him help create his hat with colorful embellishments that announce he is celebrating the passage of another year. Consider a theme or favorite characters such as wizards, pirates, cowboys or princesses. A few materials and supplies collected in a craft box during the year can provide just the right decorative items to make this memorable birthday hat.
Things You'll Need
- Measuring tape
- White poster board
- String
- Pencil
- Straight edge
- Scissors
- Markers
- Crepe paper rolls, assorted colors
- Peel-and-stick images and letters
- White glue
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Hole punch
- 1/4-inch-wide elastic strips, 10 inches
Instructions
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1
Hold the measuring tape around the head of the person who will wear the birthday cone hat and take measurement. Also, use the measuring tape to determine the height of the cone hat from the brow of the same person. Make note of the measurements.
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2
Lay the poster board flat on a work table. Make a shape for one cone hat or a template for several hats. The shape is a wide "V" with a rounded top. Attach a string the desired length of the cone hat---the height---to a pencil. Hold one end of the string on one corner of the poster board. With the other hand, hold the pencil vertically and draw a round line from one side of the board to the other.
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3
Use a measuring tape to mark the circumference of the child's head measured earlier plus 2 inches from one point of the top of the "V" along the rounded line drawn with the pencil on a string.
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4
Lay a straight edge from that point to the pointed end at the bottom of the "V" and draw a line. Cut the cone shape with scissors.
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5
Decorate the shape before bending and securing the sides into a cone hat. Use colored markers to write "HAPPY BIRTHDAY," "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY" or "LET'S PARTY."
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Use themes to embellish the hats. For example, a pirate hat can have red and white strips drawn and colored to look like a bandanna. Add a black eye patch. A princess theme hat can have crepe paper streamers hot glued on the tip. Add peel-and-stick themed images such as glitter balloons, presents, cake or other related shapes.
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7
Make a hole with the hole puncher near the bottom of the cone. Make another hole on the opposite side. Insert one end of the elastic through the hole and tie a knot. Insert the other end of the elastic through the other hole and make a knot. Adjust the length of the elastic to have a snug fit of the cone hat on the person wearing it.
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Tips & Warnings
If making many cone hats for a children's birthday party, make one basic size cone shape on the poster board to use as a template to trace as many hats as may be needed. Add an extra 2 inches at the bottom circular part that will overlap on the opposite side to make a cone that can be adjusted to fit most size heads.
Decorating a plain cone hat at a party can be a good activity/game for children. Provide markers, streamers and peel-and-stick letters and images. Have the children decorate the hats before securing them into a cone and attaching a strip of elastic to keep the hat on a child's head.
References
- Photo Credit carnival cone image by dana nicolescu from Fotolia.com
